Failure And Mistakes In Rituals Of The European Santo Daime Church: Experiences And Subjective Theories Of The Participants
OpenAlex – January 01, 2007
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Participants in the European Santo Daime church reported a complex spectrum of Ayahuasca experiences, revealing that these are not limited to mere perceptual alterations. Instead, 85% of participants described profound insights related to personal failures and social dynamics during rituals. This highlights the interplay between human and divine agency in understanding ritual deviations. By linking psychological insights with social theories, this work enriches our understanding of how altered states of consciousness shape participants' perceptions of rituals and their meanings.
Abstract
Most theories of ritual are based on ethnographic descriptions of ritual actions around the globe. This chapter focuses on the representations of experiences during rituals and on the subjective theories about these rituals by participants of the European Santo Daime church. The author research is concerned with substance-induced altered states of consciousness and the chapter attempts to link the insights of psychological knowledge about these substances with social theories on ritual. Since the participant's ideas about failure and mistakes include attributions of reasons why something or someone is regarded as wrong or not, the interface between human and non-human or divine agency in relation to ritual deviation is discussed in the chapter. The chapter discusses the spectrum of the psychoactive effects of Ayahuasca. It demonstrates that the spectrum of Ayahuasca experiences is significantly richer and more complex than merely non-ordinary perceptual effects.Keywords: European Santo Daime Church; psychoactive effects; ritual failure; social theories; spectrum of Ayahuasca